Word: laotians
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...armed convoys. South of Vientiane, Pathet Lao patrols, supported by the air force's nine T-28 fighter-bombers, manage to keep Highway 13 and Route 8 open during the day, but the Meo have full control after dark. In the south, at least 1,500 Royal Laotian army veterans and disgruntled peasants are carrying on another guerrilla war. "Our rural population is almost completely behind the rebels," one Vientiane resident told DeVoss. "People hide rice from the government and offer it to the rebels. Villagers celebrate when one of their young heads for the hills to fight...
...morale of the Pathet Lao forces has been hurt by the failing Laotian economy. Some government troops are so desperately poor that they have sold their uniforms for money to buy food. In an implicit confession of weakness, the Pathet Lao leaders have sought outside help from what is grandly called the "International Liberation Army." The number of Soviet advisers in Laos has risen to 1,200 (Moscow is eager to maintain an influence in Laos to prevent it from falling into Peking's orbit) and Viet Nam's forces increased to about 40,000 troops. In early...
...true Laotian style, last week's coup by the Communist Pathet Lao was a well-mannered affair, allowing for some touches of face-saving grace. It began with a series of "popular" demonstrations, some of them so tamely orchestrated that bored crowds began to wander away before the big finale. Then it was announced that a two-day Congress of 265 People's delegates had taken place in Vientiane, although no one in the capital had seen or heard of it. At each event, figurehead King Savang Vatthana, 68, and his 18-month-old coalition were thanked...
...just like a play on a stage," mourned one young Lao last week. "It's democratic in the Pathet Lao way, not our way. But it is useless to resist." In fact, despite the regime's direct impact on their lives, the 3 million Laotians remain among the world's most apolitical people. The Pathet Lao is neither as ruthless as Cambodia's Khmer Rouge nor as disciplined as the Vietnamese. In gradually seizing control of the country since mid-April, the Communists have managed to stay popular with their subjects by emphasizing such mass themes...
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union must content itself with an enlarged navy cruising the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea and with a dramatically enlarged presence in Southeast Asian countries. In the Laotian capital of Vientiane, the tiny office of Aeroflot, the Soviet airline, lists 150 Russians as employees. There are intelligence reports that the Soviets have brought 40 patrol boats to cruise the Mekong River border between Thailand and Laos. China, for its part, maintains close contact with the Communist movements in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and would support any guerrilla insurrections in these nations...